The Compass
by Flyerslilgirl
Summary: Vivian Thorn and her daemon, Zephyr, are about to be whisked off to a world they never knew existed, after finding out that they are magical. They're going to be sent of to Hogwarts. But while the magical boarding school may seem safe and whimsical, they're going to be in more danger than ever before... (Book of the "Truth Reader" series, set in "Sorcerer's Stone".)


_Disclaimer: I do not own "Harry Potter" or "His Dark Materials"._

THE CLOCK HAD STRUCK TWELVE. Vivian Thorn glanced at her teacher, Mr. Greenwood, from across the room. His dæmon, a raven, was cleaning her wings. She looked anxious.

Vivian's dæmon, Zephyr, was a wildcat, sitting on the desk. He was staring at Vivian's notebook, trying to figure out the problems as much as she was. His tail was twitching, and he gave the occasional glance at the clock.

It took the two of them another five minutes to finish the math problems.

"Done," Vivian closed the notebook with a thud.

"Good," said Mr. Greenwood. "Off you go, then. Remember, your mother will be here around five o'clock!"

"I'll remember. Bye," Vivian said, and made for the door. Zephyr became an arctic fox, running ahead of her, impatient to leave.

Vivian and Zephyr decided to go to a cafe on the campus of Jordan. They had been given permission long ago, when the Master of Jordan realized that he could not contain the adventurous pair, to go anywhere on the campus. The cafe was a favorite of the two because of the lady that ran it. She was an older woman, probably in her fifties, and she had always adored children. Vivian was no exception, and the lady always gave her a free dessert, whether it be a brownie or cookies.

The cafe was only a few minutes away from the actual college. It was a quaint little place, but it was popular enough. Three tables were full, and five were empty.

"Vivian!" The lady at the counter, Mrs. Jacobs, gave a large smile. "How're you, dear?" Her dæmon was a golden retriever, trying to sit straight beside her.

"Fine," said Vivian, walking to the counter. "Can I have a turkey sandwich, please?"

"'Course. That'll be three gold dollars." Mrs. Jacobs said. Vivian pulled out the coins from her pocket and handed them to the woman.

Vivian sat down at a table in the corner. Zephyr became a wildcat and leapt onto the table. Mrs. Jacobs came out from behind the counter, holding a turkey sandwich in her hands, her golden retriever dæmon at her heels.

"Here you go, Miss Vivian," she said, and placed the dish on the table.

"It looks lovely, Mrs. Jacobs." Said Vivian, leaning against her chair.

"'Fore I go, what dessert would you like?"

"Er," Vivian thought for a moment, "just a brownie. A small one."

"Alrigh', dear," Mrs. Jacobs smiled and left.

The girl and her dæmon ate in peace. The other groups of people had already left. It had begun to rain outside now. Mrs. Jacobs came back to the table, a plate with a brownie covered in icing in her hands.

"'Ere you go, honey," she said, and set it down in front of Vivian. Her dæmon nudged a sleepy-looking Zephyr, who only looked up at him with icy gray-blue eyes.

"Thanks," Vivian smiled. "Looks great," she added.

"Enjoy," Mrs. Jacobs turned around and went back to her counter.

Vivian and Zephyr ate their brownie, listening to raindrops beat against the windows. It was one-thirty now.

"When did Mr. Greenwood say mother would get here?" Vivian asked.

"Er—I think he said five o'clock," Zephyr replied. He was a mouse now, cleaning his face and getting the crumbs out of his whiskers.

The two got up eventually. Zephyr was an arctic fox again, standing beside Vivian, his tail wagging.

"Thank you, Mrs. Jacobs," Vivian said as she opened the door to leave.

"Be careful in the rain, gal," said Mrs. Jacobs. "I'll see you later!" She added, and her dæmon said, "Make sure not to get all soaked!"

Vivian ran as fast as she could back to Jordan College, with Zephyr dashing behind her as a wildcat. She only fell once, but it was in a mud puddle, and it left her dress with a stain. It took her several moments to open the door to Jordan, and she was panting when she got inside.

A maid who had been cleaning the entrance room noticed her and let out a shriek.

"Child!" She yelled. "Your mother is coming in three hours, and you're _soaked! _You've ruined that dress, too, haven't you? I'll have to inform your nanny that you must be washed and dressed immediately..."

"I told my nanny I should have worn trousers..." Vivian said resentfully.

"Hush! I'm getting your nanny and telling her you must be washed and dressed _again _today." The maid ran off, and her dæmon, a poodle, glared at Vivian and Zephyr before running off to follow his human.

Vivian's nanny came running downstairs and found Vivian, still standing where she had been when the maid found her. Zephyr was licking his paws, not paying any attention to the enraged nanny.

"How could you go and ruin that pretty dress? Look at you! You're soaked, through and through! And you've got mud all over it...oh, what will I tell Miss Thorn? It was one of your best...it cost seventy gold dollars, you stupid child!" The nanny chastised. Her dæmon was a chicken, who began to peck at Zephyr.

"I said I should have worn trousers," Vivian murmured. The nanny, Miss Green, let out a scoff.

"Please, you're excuses won't do you any good, gal! Now, come with me...we'll get you washed..." she grabbed Vivian's hand and pulled hard enough for it to hurt a little. Her chicken dæmon continued to peck Zephyr until the wildcat swatted him away.

The girl was brought to her bathroom and bathed for the second time that day. Miss Green scrubbed Vivian's scalp raw, and then she put the girl's dark hair in a braid. The whole time, her chicken dæmon was pecking out the few knots that had formed in Zephyr's fur since earlier that morning.

Miss Green found a knee-length blue dress for Vivian. Then she had the girl put on white tights, and a small pearl necklace. Vivian tried to keep herself from squirming to entire time, while Zephyr kept hissing at Miss Green's dæmon.

Finally, after Miss Green placed a white bracelet on Vivian's wrist, she pulled away and said, "Good. Now you look presentable."

"Why have I got to dress so fancy? We don't normally through such a fuss over Mother." Vivian asked.

"No one told you? Well, she's bringing back some Scholars. They're interested in her work, and some research by the other Scholars at Jordan. I don't know why Miss Thorn wants you there—it's got nothin' to do with you—but she does, and you simply must look good." Miss Green shrugged. "Now, you're going to speak properly, talk only when addressed, and keep your napkin on your lap. Understood?" Vivian nodded, although she grumbled about how her mother wouldn't care. Miss Green slapped her leg. "Miss Thorn may not, but there will be important Scholars there! Now, to keep yourself busy, why don't you go to the library or something? I've got to help out in the kitchen." When Vivian hesitated, Miss Green flicked her hand to the door. "Off you go!" She snapped. Vivian gave her one last glare before she and Zephyr left the room.

The library at Jordan was very large. Most of the books in the library were very boring. Practically all of them were college-level schoolbooks, and Vivian always avoided these, despite the fact that she could understand a lot of them, to some extent, except for the math or Experimental Theology ones. And, because of this, Vivian's mother had ordered a few books for her. Some of them were children's books, but most of them were teen books, since Vivian had never been a fan of little kids' books, even when she was younger.

Vivian sat down to read, with a wildcat Zephyr in her lap.

"What time is it?" She asked eventually.

"Three-thirty," Zephyr replied. "I wonder if we're meeting Mother at the docks?"

"Nah. Miss Green would've warned us if we were." Vivian said. "I wonder what the Scholars will be like? After all, they're not Jordan Scholars. Not the Scholars we're used to."

"I don't think they'll be much different. They're all Scholars, aren't they?" Said Zephyr.

"Mm," Vivian replied. "Guess so."

They read for another hour-and-a-half, and then Miss Green came running into the room.

"Your mother and the Scholars have arrived," she said. "Hurry! Get up! We can't keep them waiting, can we?" Vivian rose from her chair, and followed Miss Green out of the room.

_Author's note: Well, this is the first chapter of my new fanfiction! I hope you enjoyed. Now, I guess I should get some things out of the way..._

_1: To those of you following me for "Bianca": I'm not sure if I'll continue it or not. It's on hiatus right now, I guess. I'll update you guys on it soon, okay?_

_2: If you don't know what dæmons are, or don't know anything about "His Dark Materials", please look it up on Google. There's tons of information out there about anything that has to do with "His Dark Materials"._

_3: I'm going to update my homepage and put all sorts of stuff about this new fanfiction series, so go check it out if you want to learn more! _

_4: "Experimental Theology" is the word for "physics" in Lyra's world, which is the world this takes place in._

_That's it, guys. Thanks for reading and please review,_

_Flyerslilgirl.)_


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